Most adults don’t celebrate Halloween the same we used to. We no longer gather our friends and our pillowcases and hit the pavement in search of endless candy and sky-high dental bills. We no longer knock on our neighbor’s door and ask for candy because Jim from across-the-street is a giant jerk and tells us we’re too old. We no longer teepee or egg the people from high school because that was decades ago and it’d be weird.
It’s okay, though, because we don’t need tricks or treats – we have cannabis now
Halloween and cannabis go together like cannabis and, well, anything! But the festivities that surround All Hallows Eve make Mary Jane even more exciting. Yet this doesn’t mean it’s all fun and games. There are certain precautions to take. These precautions always exist, but Halloween makes proactivity a bit more important.
Tips for Picking Halloween Treats
So, as you trade your tricks for a trip, consider the following:
Pick your strains carefully: Some strains are more conducive to Halloween fun than others. Sativas will help you socialize – they provide a bit of pep, helping you mingle at parties. Indicas don’t make you anti-social, but most relax you to the point where the sofa is your best friend in the world – screw mingling, you have Netflix.
But indica versus sativa isn’t the only thing to beware of – keep potency in mind too.
If you’re going to a haunted house and you already scare easily, October 31st is probably not the night to try a new strain extremely high in THC. It’s probably not the night to dab for the first time either. Anything with a little too oomph might leave you paranoid….and then everyone will call you a Halloweenie.
Beware of the rules: Sure, Halloween is a night when goblins and ghouls roam the streets looking for treats, but policemen and women do as well (both those dressed up in costume and those who can actually bust you). If you live in a state where recreational weed is not yet legal (yet!), know the laws. Getting caught with pot probably won’t leave you trading out your clown suit for an orange jumper, but it can leave you with a ticket and other pesky fines. Still, even in legal states you can’t smoke up in the middle of the bar or on a city sidewalk. Marijuana laws don’t allow for public consumption. It happens, obviously, but try to be sly on a night when you’ll likely be under more of a spotlight than usual.
But be careful with edibles: Of course, edibles are popular on this night – they offer a way to relax at a Halloween party or kickback while watching a scary movie. But when you consume edibles unwittingly, the surprise high is more conducive to paranoia than enjoyment. Beware of this and if you’re at a pot-friendly gathering, be sure that everything you’re eating isn’t laced with cannabis. If you’re hosting the gathering, mark these “marijuana meals” clearly. And be particularly careful with kids and cannabis candy – while new Colorado laws require that each piece of candy be marked with a symbol, other areas don’t (and even Colorado is allowed to sell old inventory for the next couple of months). Thus, be sure little Johnny is eating a box of Milk Duds and not a box of Milk Dope.
Be patient: Most people know that the high from oral ingestion takes much longer to arrive than what is experienced with a bong or joint. Some people only have to wait for forty or fifty minutes, but others wait and wait and wait. Sometimes, it may take as long as two hours. Consuming more edibles while you wait won’t make the high arrive any faster, but it can make you higher than intended. Too many pot brownies can kick you in the Duncan Hiney, even if you’re a seasoned user. So, pay attention to how much you consume – give the edible time to kick in and read labels carefully. It won’t ruin your life if you take too much, but it will ruin your night.
Call an Uber: State patrols are usually in full force on any holiday, especially holidays where celebrations happen at night and involve booze. This has always been the case – cops increase DUI surveillance in hopes of nabbing a pirate driving home when they’re a bit too loopy or a vampire who spent the entire night sucking bloody marys. But if you’re high on pot, they’ll try to nab you too. Sure, this is controversial, not only because alcohol is far more dangerous behind the wheel than weed, but also because it’s difficult to prove that someone is actively high: having THC in your system could mean that you’re stoned, or it could mean that you were stoned two days ago. Nevertheless, don’t be a goober and just call an Uber.
Keeping Your Treats Away From Kids
Pot-Laced Candy and Children If you grew up in the 1980s, then it’s a wonder you survived Halloween at all, what with all those razor blades stuffed inside of Milk Ways. While this was chalked up to lore, the lore continues in another form – now, instead of blades we have blaze. Is the candy in your children’s trick-or-treat sack laced with marijuana? Um, no. In 2014, the first year Colorado and Washington sold legal weed, there were rumors that pot-laced candy would find its way into little Sally’s satchel on the night of Halloween. But, per the Guardian, these fears were entirely unfounded (and chalked up to another “razor blade” hysteria).
There were zero reports of this happening in either state
Cannabis candy remains a danger to children but because of accidental – not intentional – ingestion. But the danger is far less than many other household products including prescription medicines. In fact, anyone worried about poisons in the house should point fingers in a direction other than cannabis. Things like lipstick, dishwashing pods, rubbing alcohol, and plants present more of a threat. So do gummy vitamins – the iron in these pills is extremely dangerous for kids who assume they’re candy.